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Seeking out that perfect shot with the Sony RX1R II

By Digital News Asia March 12, 2018

High resolution and bright prime lens among the top best features of the camera

Overcome fear of being rejected and treat subjects as people to connect with

The art of photography is all about catching that magical moment in time. It is a form of expression that is more complex than whipping a smartphone out and snapping a selfie or picture of food.

Yes, there is a thought process that goes through a photographer’s mind before they click the shutter button. To Malaysian freelance photographer Nick Ng (pic above), the act of photography is about looking for things, exploring and approaching a subject.

“Photography is not about standing still and waiting for something to come to you. You have to go seek things out,” said the photographer in an interview.

As an avid documentary and travel photographer, one doesn’t want to be bogged down by bulky gear. That is why Ng’s camera of choice to supplement his bigger Sony A7 series camera is the RX1R II.

Small compact and unassuming, the RX1R II packs a high-resolution 42-Megapixel sensor with a 35mm f/2 prime lens attached to it, making it a great companion or even stand-alone camera.

Despite its small size, the RX1R II is a full-featured full-frame camera with speedy yet accurate fast hybrid autofocus system. It also has a retractable XGA OLED Tru-Finder to help frame subjects during bright sunny conditions and a tiltable LCD screen to extend shooting angle flexibility.

So what does it take to capture that one single shot that captures three emotions when challenged by Sony? For Ng, he decided to photograph a Chinese opera because it was the one thing in his heart that he was passionate about.

“When you look at someone whether male or female, from an ordinary person to after makeup, they become a culturally rich artist on stage, performing with so much passion. You get pulled into their world and some of them have been doing this for 40 or 50 years. To that there must be something inside the Chinese opera that makes them want to keep doing this over and over again,” he said.

Ng described the experience of capturing the special shot as being a spontaneous spur of the moment when out of the blue. When the Chinese opera artist that was sitting down turned his face and looked directly into his camera and Ng knew that this was the moment he was waiting for.

Three things ran through Ng’s mind as he tried to look for the meaning behind the shot and on the subject. Was he angry, annoyed or proud of his passion as an opera artist. These questions lingered in Ng’s mind as he examined it.

When asked what was the best feature of the Sony RX1R II that helped him capture the shot Ng said that apart from the camera’s compact size, he found the 35mm lens is powerful as it offers better image quality compared to zoom lenses and at the same time it captures amazing photos in low light that extract hidden details from the shadows.

A real people person, Ng is never one to shy away from his subjects though he understands that one of the biggest challenges any photographer faces is the fear of being rejected by a subject.

“Everyone of us has a fear of approaching strangers. But you have to overcome it and once you do it gets easier. If you don’t overcome your fear, you will never get that shot,” he advised.

Ng’s philosophy is that photographers need to be humble first. Don’t treat subjects as mere subjects but look at them as people you would like to connect to.

He ended with a simple tip for new users of the Sony RX1R II. “When you set the aperture to f/5.6, you can push the ISO to 2,000 or 3,000 and that image quality can still be maintained with the least noise possible,” he said.

To find out more about the Sony RX1R II and to learn more about Ng, go to Sony’s website.